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tango

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tango¹

  • /ˈtæ̞ŋɡəʊ̯/ UK
  • [ˈtʰæ̞ŋɡəʊ̯] UK
  • /ˈtæ̝ŋɡoʊ̯/ US
  • [ˈtʰæ̝ŋɡoʊ̯] US
  • /ˈtæ̝ŋɡɔʊ̯/ US
  • [ˈtʰæ̝ŋɡɔʊ̯] US
  • /ˈteɪ̯ŋɡoʊ̯/
  • [ˈteɪ̯ŋɡoʊ̯]
  • /ˈtɛ̃ŋɡoʊ̯/
  • [ˈtʰɛ̃ŋɡoʊ̯]
  • /ˈtæ̞ŋɡəʉ̯/ Australia
  • [ˈtʰæ̞ŋɡəʉ̯] Australia
  • /ˈtæ̞ŋɡɐ̞ʉ̯/ Australia
  • [ˈtʰæ̞ŋɡɐ̞ʉ̯] Australia

Rhymes with -æŋɡəʊ

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Rioplatense Spanish tango, probably from a Niger-Congo language (compare Ibibio tamgu (“to dance”)).

noun tangos · tangoes

  1. A standard ballroom dance in 4/4 time; or a social dance, the Argentine tango.
  2. A Spanish flamenco dance with different steps from the Argentine.
  3. A piece of music suited to such a dance.
  4. A dark orange colour shade; deep tangerine

verb tangoes · tangoing · tangoed

  1. To dance the tango.
  2. intransitive, slang To mingle or interact (with each other). Creamy cheese, tangy-sweet peppers, and a hit of heat tango in this sexy deviled-egg combo.

tango²

Where it comes from

From translingual Tango (representing the letter T), from English tango (see above).

noun tangos · tangoes

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Tango from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet
  2. US, slang A target; an enemy. Tango down!

Tango³

Where it comes from

Two main origins:

* Borrowed from Italian Tango, probably a patronymic surname from a Germanic personal name.

* Borrowed from Japanese 丹後 (Tango), the name of an old province of central Japan.

proper noun Tangos

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: dancing, dance, sentence, punishment, penalty, argentinean, danse, waltz, tarentella, gavotte, galliard, double time, veleta, common time, square dancing, cotillion

Translations

Every language

noun ballroom dance

Españoltango
한국어탱고 taenggo
日本語タンゴ tango
中文探戈舞 tàngēwǔ
Portuguêstango
Françaistango
DeutschTango
Русскийта́нго tángo
العربيةتَانْغُو tanḡū, تَانْغُو tangō
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Cite this
MLA

"tango." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tango. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tango. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tango

Chicago

"tango." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tango.

BibTeX
@misc{tango_2026,
  title = {tango},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tango},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}